An Agreement of Sorts
by kittypeas
Summary: Post TLJ. When Rey rejects Kylo's offer, he has no one to turn to … and they say that an old enemy is better than new friend. Together with Hux they come to a certain agreement. A fanfiction in which Hux and Kylo have sex but both ship reylo. Warnings: canon-typical violence, swearing, sex, dubious consent


Hux was his first lover. He knew it the moment Kylo Ren looked him in the eyes.

He watched Ren take off his shoes and his many layers of clothing and waited until he stood before him completely naked. Hux would remember this sight. Supreme Leader had the body of a giant and a boy's face; his strong arms shivered from the cold. Then he lifted his head and their eyes met, and Hux could see that he was afraid.

Never before had he seen Kylo Ren so unsure. Ren was quick and didn't hesitate when he gave orders to drop bombs, or when he decided to negotiate, or even when they were forced to give up a planet and retreat. Hux had to admit that Ren has fared well in his role as Supreme Leader. Especially his decision to create an intergalactic network of orphanages and schools seemed promising, even though it had already consumed billions of credits; now, in addition to an extensive health care plan, psychotherapeutic droids were purchased for every school, each machine assigned to no more than fifteen students. It had cost them a fortune, but Ren's intent was unwavering. It was a great PR move; people would see that First Order had something to offer, something far more valuable than the promise of freedom, a beautiful but hollow idea that cannot protect anyone from cold or satiate hunger.

But when Hux and Ren meet, they don't talk about politics; in fact, they almost don't talk at all.

Experience had taught Hux how to recognize signs of interest from a potential partner. But what he suspected from their first meeting and what became apparent not so long later was the fact that Kylo Ren wasn't particularly attracted to men. Hux wondered why he visited him at all, if that was the case; of course, he wasn't excessively concerned with Ren's well-being. Simply, Hux liked puzzles, and this particular one still lacked a satisfactory answer. Also—he could openly admit it—he wanted him; when Ren proved to be such a treat, Hux didn't see a reason why he should deny himself. They were both adults, and he assumed that each of them could take care of his own needs. Yet Ren's needs were peculiar.

That first time, Hux thought that he had misheard him. They were lying in his bed, covered in sweat and still breathing heavily; Kylo was facing the wall and Hux looking at the ceiling when, suddenly, Ren said:

"Could you scratch my back?" After a long pause, he added, "Please."

That was how they came to this special agreement. Ren walks inside his apartment without a word, passes him by, and heads straight to the bedroom. They both undress and Ren kneels or lays himself on the bed, exactly the way Hux had instructed him first the time, and he waits. He doesn't look at Hux or try to change the position; usually at some point during the act he would grab his penis and start jerking off. Hux then moves his hand from Ren's hip and places it between his shoulder blades—he learned this quite quickly—and slides it along his spine; when he grabs his neck and holds him tight, Ren responds with a moan or sighs, and comes. But sometimes he just lays there, completely inert, and lets Hux fuck him as long as Hux wishes; then they both collapse on the mattress, and Ren asks him to touch his shoulders or his back, an odd but harmless whim that Hux can easily satisfy.

Kylo says, "You can go to the bathroom first," or he asks, "Where are the towels?" but every now and then he says other things. When he said, "My mother was on bridge of that ship," Hux didn't know how to react. But it turned out that this question didn't need an answer, nor do the others.

Ren says, "How could someone who grew up on a desert planet know how to swim?" or "Could the First Order technicians track a smuggler's ship?" Then he stays motionless for some time before getting up and dressing as if nothing has happened.

It had been like that for weeks. Ren always took the initiative: During meetings he looked in Hux's direction, waiting for him to notice, or casts him a fleeting glance when passing by in the corridor. Sometimes he doesn't do anything at all, but Hux knows anyway, like the last time, when their spies brought bad news about the "new Jedi," that filthy sand rat. Ren smashed every object in the conference room into pieces, and two soldiers were sent to the hospital wing.

Hux awaited him that evening. He was finishing his third glass of brandy when he heard the whizz of the automatic door. He got up immediately, catching Ren in the doorway. He grabbed his tunic.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"he roared into Ren's ear. He would never dare to address him that way in public, but in this room, under his touch, it was as if Ren were on his leash. "These are my troops, Ren. Supreme Leader or not, you must understand that!"

"She was here, inside our ship," Ren mumbled.

"Enough of this nonsense!"snarled Hux. He could feel his head spinning. "You pissed me off, and I don't want to listen to you! Undress, now!"

But instead of waiting, he seized Ren by the neck and shoved him forward to the bed. He thought that Ren would fight him, but he didn't; he fell on the edge of the bed and dropped to the floor. Hux approached him, knelt, and slid Ren's trousers from his hips; he tried to remove them completely and he struggled to take off his shoes, but after the first one he gave up.

Hux took his penis into his hand and began stroking it urgently up and down. He looked around for the lubricant, cursing when he saw the tube standing on the dresser out of reach. Fuck this. He spat in his hand and hastily rubbed his saliva on his own cock. Then he grabbed Ren by the hips and entered him without any warning. Kylo breathed in sharply, but remained otherwise silent. All his muscles were tense, his spine twisted like wire. Hux pushed into him fast and hard until his breath became ragged and shallow, sweat dripping from his brow. Finally he came.

When he withdrew he saw a pinkish fluid oozing down Kylo's thigh.

"Kriff…" he said with start. "Ren… you should have told me…"

But then Kylo started getting up from his knees and Hux saw his face;blood was trickling from his nose. Hux felt himself sobering immediately. How did this happen? He must have hit the bed frame when he fell.

"Get up, sit on the bed," Hux said, and went to the bathroom. He took one of the towels, rinsed it in the sink and squeezed it out. He returned to the bedroom and sat beside Kylo. He sighed.

"It was not my intention to hurt you." Hux said. Gently, he put the towel to Kylo's lips and watched the white cotton turn red. "Causing you pain was never part of the deal. An apology is in order."

Kylo sniffed, a wet, gurgling sound, and swallowed what must have been blood; Hux felt his insides turning. Instinctively he reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He picked one, fired it, and, laying down, took the smoke deep into his lungs.

"Do you want some?"

Kylo nodded and laid down next to him. His fingers were trembling as he took the cigarette. He brought it to his lips, but as soon as he inhaled he started choking and coughing. He returned the cigarette to Hux.

They stayed silent for some time. Hux saw that one of Kylo's socks had come off together with his shoe. His trousers were still tangled around his ankles.

"Hux…" he said, looking at the ceiling. "Do you think I'm ugly?"

Hux glanced at him. He saw the scar on his cheek, wet, tousled hair not quite covering big ears, swollen, bruised nose that seemed to take up half of his face.

"Where did you get this idea from?" he said.

"Do you think…" Kylo tried again "That I could be considered handsome by some… be considered handsome by some girl?"

"I'm not an expert, but I would say that girls like emperors. Well, not all girls…" he added, thinking of Rey planting bombs in the cargo deck of their freighter. "Although I think that the idea to open new orphanages should help in this matter."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Ren murmured. "Hux, could you…"

"Massage your back?" he finished for him. Good, no more talking. Hux didn't wait for the response. He put out his cigarette and slipped his hand under Kylo's shirt. He put it just under his shoulder blade and felt Ren's ribs lift abruptly with an intake of breath and fall shortly afterwards.

"No… could you hold me? Just for a while."

For the first time in his life Hux was lost for words. Slowly he moved closer and embraced him. Ren smelled of fresh sweat and something that reminded Hux of either laundered cotton shirts or milk, but underneath he could also sense this indistinctive scent of hair and bare skin, similar to every person that he had ever held in his arms.

Although Kylo was now breathing calmly, half asleep, Hux still remembered his giant palms clenched into fists and that horrible sound when soldiers' necks were being crushed by the grip of the Force. While Hux used to show a studied disregard for Ren's special powers and most certainly wouldn't admit it to anyone, he also had tried once to lift an empty glass from his desk with the sheer power of his mind, to no avail. Of course such silly ideas were excused by the late hour and the considerable amount of alcohol he had drunk that night. But truth be told, Hux had never understood the Force, and it was probably the only thing in the galaxy that he was afraid of.

At the same time he knew that it was not the Force sensitivity that made Ren truly dangerous.

When he closed his eyes a memory came back to him. He was maybe five years old then, and he was watching his father feed his dogs. In order to stir their ferocity, father would starve them for days. He was a cruel man, and the poor beasts howled and wailed at nights.

One of the hounds was chewing on a bone when small Armitage extended his hand to pet it. In a moment its jaws were clutched tightly around his wrist.

The wound was later sewed up and bandaged, and his father said "Don't touch a hungry dog. It may bite your hand off."

Now, lying in the bed, he tried to keep some distance. He could feel Ren's heart beating wildly in his chest and hear Father's words ringing in his ears.

And, Hux thought, if it weren't for this girl who seemed to preoccupy all of Ren's attention, most likely he would go for his head instead.

Hux closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.


End file.
